Updated Feb. 1 with more details of the new service, how it will work and where it will lead.
Apple has just released iOS 18.3, its latest iPhone update (full details here) and the software contained a surprise extra: compatibility with the Starlink satellite network, according to a new report. And more details show how the system will work and exactly how it’s different from existing services—with one very cool change that means you’re no longer pointing your phone at the sky to connect to the satellite. What’s more, it’s worth noting that this is one of the most notable tech link-ups in recent months, and certainly the biggest this year.
“Apple Inc. has been secretly working with SpaceX and T-Mobile US Inc. to add support for the Starlink network in its latest iPhone software, providing an alternative to the company’s in-house satellite-communication service,” according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Which makes it all the more remarkable that the work has been done “secretly,” as the latest report says. Gurman describes the software update that supports the technology as an “under-the-radar move,” and the tie-up between the companies as “a surprise.”
While T-Mobile already had a Starlink satellite option for users to send emergency messages when outside cellular range, it was for Samsung phones only. And Apple’s Emergency SOS via satellite service used the rival Globalstar network.
A post on X from Mario Nawfal, founder of IBC Group, described the update as a “game changer,” saying “Apple quietly adds Starlink to iPhones in iOS 18.3.” Since Apple already has its Globalstar service, why is this a game-changer?
Well, as Nawfal puts it, “The key difference? No more pointing your phone at the sky—Starlink works right from your pocket.”
“T-Mobile to beta testers: ‘You can now stay connected with texting via satellite from virtually anywhere.’ While it’s text-only for now, SpaceX and T-Mobile plan to add voice calls and data in the future. The race for space-based cellular just got interesting,” they went on.
Nawfal’s comment was reposted by Elon Musk, who said that “Medium resolution images, music & audio podcasts should work with the current generation Starlink direct-to-phone constellation. Next generation constellation will do medium resolution video.”
A small number of iPhones on the T-Mobile network have been enabled to work as a beta test, receiving messages saying, “You’re in the T-Mobile Starlink beta. You can now stay connected with texting via satellite from virtually anywhere. To start experiencing coverage beyond, please update to iOS 18.3.”
T-Mobile said that the test will start “with select optimized smartphones” but that the full launch will support the vast majority of modern smartphones, and that it had opened the beta to some Android phone users running the latest software, Android 15.
The move from Apple to supporting other satellite networks beyond Globalstar has often been suggested, with Elon Musk saying that he’d had conversations with Apple about Starlink involvement back in 2022.
The system will work so that when a T-Mobile phone that’s part of the Starlink program is outside cellular connectivity, it will “try to pair with SpaceX satellites. Users will also be able to activate texting via the satellite menu for the Globalstar service or contact emergency services through Apple,” according to the report.
“Users in the program have a new toggle switch in their iPhone cellular data settings to manage the satellite feature,” Gurman says.
The first version is just for texting, but SpaceX and T-Mobile say they have plans to expand into data connections and voice calls in due course. The service will work automatically, with an iPhone on T-Mobile connecting to SpaceX satellites when out of cellular connectivity. Right now, the number of iPhones in the beta is “minimal, with T-Mobile planning to expand the program in February,” Gurman adds.
The carrier has indicated that eventually it will be available with most smartphones, not just iPhones, though these presumably will also require compatible software such as iOS 18.3 or Android 15.
Since Apple launched its service, there have been multiple indications of how it has saved lives—perhaps one reason why Apple extended the time the service would be made available for free. So, adding more service providers in due course would add to the feature’s efficacy. Right now, you need to be on T-Mobile and part of the beta program.
It’s worth noting that as experiments like this grow, eventually people might ask whether they need terrestrial networks at all—one day will we all just use Starlink or rivals as our service providers? For now, the FCC has rules in place for regular network providers, and remember that satellite connections require line of sight to the sky, so is designed for when you go off-grid.
For now, you need to be in the U.S. to be able to have this connectivity, and will apply to handsets from the iPhone 14 onwards. And, of course, it’s limited to a beta program at the moment.
